On Sunday, we began planting the annuals in earnest. I had acquired a stock of seed potatoes of the Rotten, Golden Wonder, and Kennewick varieties. These spuds, I quickly planted about 3 inches deep within garden bed 6(the newest) and both containers. Potatoes, being asexual clones, are highly susceptible to diseases. Thus they should either be planted within clean soil or have at least a 3 year rotation before being replanted within the same ground. Using this model, the first 4 garden beds, being planted with potatoes within the last 2 years, are unsuitable for further potato production this year. Another matter of importance is that of having multiple breeds of the same crop. Many breeds of the same species ensures genetic diversity. And genetic diversity is possibly nature's greatest defense against diseases and pests, because quite simply, no disease can completely wipe out a highly multifarious plant population.
The onion family was next, these I mostly planted in bed number 4. First, I planted a sub-breed of the common California garlic, known for it's large white cloves. Next, I choose French Yellow onions and Belgian Red Onions. These two varieties are known for their disease resistance, and of course their multiple functions. The leaves and stems of the plant are edible as cut and come again scallions, while the root bulbs are the actual onions harvested in the fall. Finally, I planted additional Asiatic green onion chives along the edges of garden beds 1 and 2. I already have more than enough green onions growing in the wild, but this planting isn't just for food. The point is to inject more new genes into the wild onions' gene pool, thus strengthening the plant's hold on my backyard environment.
Garden beds 1 and 2 were planted with 2 continues crops of heavy feeders(potatoes and corn). Thus, the soil would be quite depleted of vital resources such as nitrogen and phosphate. Because of this, I decided to plant both beds with peas to rebuild the richness of the soil. Legumes fixes nitrogen through their roots, making the soil more fertile over time. Yet another reason is a potential defense against the dreaded Japanese Beatles. We know that the bugs reach a reproductive apex in July before quickly expiring in early August. While at the same time, the peas would be naturally dying out in July(due to heat) as a second set of pole beans grow over the pea plants. Thus, it may be possible for the bugs to feed upon the heat damaged peas after the plant has lived past it's lifecycle. This would create a permanent niche for both the beetle and the peas, while saving the rest of my garden from devastation.
I chose 3 varieties: snow peas, sugar-snap peas, and wally peas. Each of the sub-breeds is slightly different, the sugar snap has a higher concentration of sugar, the snow peas tolerate lower temperatures better, while the wally peas have a hard protective shell. These minute genetic differences should suffice for some of these peas to survive a hard onslaught of pests. I planted these seeds and set down bamboo stakes as a support trellis.
While doing some research online on do nothing farming, I had the good fortune of meeting Steve Groff at Cedar Meadow Farms. Basically Steve is practicing a form of agriculture that seeks to mitigate plowing the land. In effect, it conserves top soil while simultaneously saving gas and human effort. After a few emails, I decided to visit his farm and see how large scale no-till agriculture worked first hand. So last weekend, I took the train home to PA and got into my Honda Civic for a field trip of sorts. I drove some 40 miles Westwards into the agricultural areas of Lancaster County. There were many Amish families inhabiting those parts. Their 19th century horse and carriage lifestyle presented a rather odd contrast with the rapid expansion of suburbia into Lancaster.
After finding the farm, I had the pleasure of chatting with the man. Apparently, Steve's method of farming uses only around 30% of the fuel, and 70% of the fertilizer as conventional agriculture, while still allowing for a single family to cultivate over vast acreages(250). Of great interest to me was the savings in time. According to Steve, he was able to cut down his work hours by 75% due to not tilling the soil while farming. Of course by that time, I was bouncing off the walls to see the actual process in action. So out we went to tour the farm.
Steve is using a form of seeding and cover-cropping that is very similar to those practices described within One Straw Revolution. However, his own interpretation is highly mechanized and thus much more scalable. For example, in OSR, seeds were encapsulated within "earth balls" and scatered into the fields by hand. While Steve's tractor simply carves a very narrow slit about an inch deep into the earth, disperses the seed,and then these two bevel seals the ground up afterwards, thus accomplishing the same purpose with machinery. Steve actually demonstrated his tractor for me, and it was amazing to watch. The process of tilling the soil is highly tedious on both man and machine, I have had the good fortune to experience both. But the act of simply scratching the soil and depositing the seeds seemed much easier and faster to me.
The farm itself uses the principals of natural fertility and continous cover described in One Straw Revolution. Steve has been using a combination of corn and wheat as harvest crops along with vetch/rye and turnips to provide the cover crops and green manure. While touring the farm, I have noticed examples of such continuous coverage. In one field, I could see the remains of corn stalks after the ears had been harvested, and underneath these brown stocks there grew a green carpet of vetch and rye. Along with the crops, Steve also keeps a small herd of buffalos on his farm. It seems to me that this way of agriculture is much more efficient and sustainable to the mainstream method currently in place. Steve mentioned that the difficulties of No-till agriculture was in the transition process. During the first years of transitioning, more fertilizer must be used and harvests could be smaller, thus farmers risk possible ruin in making the switch. After seeing the results of this method, I personally think the government should subsidize this transition process and convert as much of our farmland to no-till as possible.
